When you apply for post-graduate clerkships and/or fellowships, you
are generally required to submit letters of recommendation as part of your
application packet. These legal employers are interested in your academic
and professional skills and they prefer that the letters be from people
who can comment on your legal skills and your potential as a lawyer. Generally
students ask law school professors and co-op employers, and graduates ask
professors, co-op employers and other legal employers, to write the recommendation
letter. You should ask people who know your work firsthand and can comment
specifically on why you have the relevant skills for a particular position.
Again, it is highly preferable to get letters from lawyers and law school
professors rather than from people with whom you may have studied or for
which you have worked prior to law school. Also, it is helpful to choose
references for which you have worked recently.

You should make it as easy as possible for your references to write
letters for you. Make sure you give your references as much as notice as
you can when requesting a letter of recommendation. Be solicitous when
you ask a reference if he/she is willing to write a letter for you. You
should give your reference a recent copy of your resume, remind him/her
of the work that you have done, and give the reference any other information
that may be helpful, such as a copy of your transcript. You also want to
assist the reference in producing the letter(s). For example, you may apply
to many judges for clerkship positions. In this case, you should ask your
reference his/her preference for producing multiple letters. Some recommenders
prefer to send you a copy of the letter electronically or on disk and will
ask you to assume the responsibility for merging the letter with the names
and addresses of the judges. After you have merged the letters, you will
need to return the letters to your reference for final signature.

If you anticipate applying for post-graduate positions that require
letters of recommendation, you need to plan ahead. Make sure you leave
yourself enough time to make your request, and to give your recommenders
sufficient time to write your letter so that you receive it well in advance
of the employer’s deadline. Sometimes professors or employers ask to see
sample recommendation letters to help them draft their own, or alternatively,
ask you to write the first draft of the letter. The samples in this handout
can be used for either purpose.

CLERKSHIP RECOMMENDATION LETTER FROM PROFESSOR

Date

Name & Address

RECOMMENDATION FOR S. N. (student's name)

Dear Judge Last Name:

I am writing this letter
in enthusiastic support of S.N.'s application for a clerkship in your chambers.
I have gotten to know Ms. N. over the past year, both as a student in my
first-year Contracts course and as an active participant in law school
governance. In both capacities, I have been most impressed with Ms. N.’s
talents, and I am confident that she will be an exceptional law clerk and
an outstanding attorney.

In the Contracts class, Ms.
N. stood out, from early in the course, as an unusually articulate and
perceptive participant in class discussion. Repeatedly, she was the student
who raised the serious and challenging issues that pushed the dialogue
to a more reflective and perceptive level. Her written work in the course,
both a research memo and her final examination, simply confirmed what her
class participation had already evidenced – that she was a student with
exceptional insight and analytic skill – while also demonstrating the clarity
and cogence of her prose style. Ms. N. was the strongest student in a strong
class, and a review of her academic record reveals that her performance
in Contracts was repeated across her first-year courses. Intellectually,
she is clearly a star.

Her talents, however, do
not end there. Ms. N. is also a person of unusual energy, maturity, and
interpersonal skill. In her first-year, she represented her class on the
law school’s faculty-student Governing Council, and this year she is serving
as her class’s representative on our faculty appointments committee, which
I chair. Her election to these posts is some evidence of how her peers
perceive her, and her performance in these roles is testament to her character.
Ms. N. has tackled these responsibilities with spirit and sophistication,
interacting with both students and faculty in an effective, responsible
manner. She is evidently a person with substantial experience functioning
in the professional world, and it has been a pleasure working with her.

In short, I recommend Ms.
N. to you strongly and without reservation. She will be a wonderful addition
to your chambers. If I can be of any further assistance in your review
of her application, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely yours,

Professor's Name
Professor of Law

CLERKSHIP RECOMMENDATION LETTER FROM PROFESSOR

Date

Name & Address of Court Administrator

RECOMMENDATION FOR S. N. (Student's Name)

Dear Ms./Mr. Last Name:

I am writing
this letter in enthusiastic support of S. N.'s application for a clerkship
with the Superior Court. I have known Mr. N. over the past couple of years,
initially as a student in my first-year Contracts course and subsequently
as a research assistant and independent study student. Through these contacts
I have come to know both Mr. N. and his legal work unusually well, and
I am confident that he will make a first-rate law clerk and that he is
on his way to a distinguished career as an attorney.

In the
Contracts course, Mr. N.’s was among the strongest performances in the
class. He and his partner researched and wrote an excellent memorandum
dealing with complex UCC warranty formation issues. And his final examination
was also very strong. From the start of his legal education, Mr. N. demonstrated
a facility at legal analysis and a subtle understanding of legal argumentation
that made him stand out from his peers.

During
each of the ensuing quarters when Mr. N. has been in school, I have been
fortunate to have him as part of the team of students providing support
for a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of corporate tax incentives
used by the state of Ohio to attract business investment into the state.
This suit raises a range of novel procedural and constitutional issues,
and Mr. N. has played a vital part in researching and analyzing these issues.
On several important issues, his research and writing have provided the
primary basis for our briefs before the Ohio federal district courts. In
addition, Mr. N. has been an active and insightful participant in our weekly
strategy sessions concerning the evolution of the case.

Particularly
through his participation in the litigation, I have had a chance to work
closely with Mr. N. and to see his skills at first hand. He is an exceptionally
clear writer and speaker, partly due to the fact that he is also an unusually
clear thinker. He has excellent lawyerly instincts and strong research
skills. He is also a delightful person to work with, utterly dependable,
hard working, welcoming of feedback, and an active and constructive team
participant. Any judge who has Mr. N. clerking in her chambers will count
herself lucky.

In short,
I recommend Mr. N. to you strongly and without reservation. If I can be
of any further assistance in your review of his application, please feel
free to contact me.

Sincerely yours,

Professor's Name
Professor of Law

CLERKSHIP RECOMMENDATION LETTER FROM PROFESSOR

Date

Name & Address

Re: S.N. (Student's Name)

Dear

I am writing this letter in support of S.N.’s application to serve as
your law clerk. S. was a student in my Appellate Advocacy course at Northeastern
during the summer of 200__. Students in Appellate Advocacy were required
to write two drafts of an appellate brief and participate in a practice
and a final oral argument.

S.’s written brief was excellent. Her analysis of the controlling law
was thoughtful and comprehensive. She did a superb job advocating her client's
point of view and distinguishing negative authority. Her writing was clear
and her point headings were persuasive.

S.’s oral argument was the best in the class. Her answers to the judges'
questions were intelligent and responsive. Her demeanor was smooth. After
the argument, all of the judges spoke highly of her oral advocacy skills
and told me how much they enjoyed questioning her and listening to her
responses. Not surprisingly, S. received more penetrating questions from
the judges than did the other students in the class because of her superior
skills.

I have had the opportunity to instruct many students in my ten years
of experience teaching legal writing and oral advocacy. S. ranks among
the top few students. She is extremely intelligent, diligent and engaging.
She writes beautifully and has exceptional oral advocacy skills. She is
reliable, submits her work promptly, and requires little direction. On
top of it all, she is a pleasure to be around.

I think S. would be an extremely effective law clerk. She would bring
outstanding written, oral and analytic skills, a sound work ethic, and
a wonderful personality to the position. I recommend her without reservation
and with a great deal of enthusiasm.

Sincerely

Professor's Name
Adjunct Professor
Northeastern University School of Law

We worked together for twenty hours a week over a ten-week period. In
the course of the summer, she produced two of the best hearing memoranda
that I have gotten in the twenty years that I have directed the clinical
program at the law school. I have circulated both of them to our partners
in Legal Services. While she basically worked independently, she sought
supervision when appropriate and took suggestions willingly. The resulting
products were thoroughly researched persuasively written. Her oral presentations
were equally dependent on careful preparation and as a result remarkable
well executed. She displayed confidence and flexibility and her second
hearing was even better that her first as she learned quickly from reflection
on her experience.

Her academic record indicates that she has grown into an accomplished
student of the law and gives evidence of her ability to do excellent work
in highly technical courses. But most impressive and relevant for purposes
of determining her fitness as a clerk are the evaluations of Judges ________________
and _________________. The high praise that they lavish on her for her
hard work, legal skills and personal attitude are entirely consistent with
my experience of her.

While clinical work may not be an exact analogy to clerking, it does
depend on many of the same skills and attitudes. I am confident that you
will find this remarkable young woman to be as much of an asset to your
busy office as she was to ours. Rather than go on at length, I encourage
you to call me if you have further questions. I can be reached at __________.

Sincerely,

Professor's Name
Professor Law and
Director of Clinical Education

CLERKSHIP RECOMMENDATION LETTER FROM EMPLOYER

Date

Court
Court's Address

Dear Judges:

I
am writing to enthusiastically recommend Student's Name as a clerk for
the New Jersey Supreme Court. Ms. N. served as a full-time legal intern
in this office's Trial Division during the fall of 2000. During the twelve-week
period of her internship Ms. N. worked largely under my supervision, and
I therefore had ample opportunity to observe her skills, demeanor and work
habits.

During
her internship Ms. N. was assigned to a variety of research, writing, trial
assistance and organizational projects. For instance, she researched and
drafted a motion in limine arguing against the admission of certain evidence
in a Title VII race discrimination case. With respect to the same case,
she organized all of the exhibits, took comprehensive notes of testimony,
assisted in the preparation of requests for jury instructions and researched
a number of issues relevant to support trial motions. Ms. N. also researched
and drafted, largely on her own, two motions (and supporting memoranda)
for judgment on the pleadings in sexual harassment cases filed under the
state fair employment practices law.

Ms. N. proved to be a talented, intelligent, highly conscientious, and
effective intern. She had no difficulty in grasping relatively complex
issues, both legal and factual, and was able to work independently in reviewing
documents, culling out important facts, and organizing those facts in a
useful and readable way. Her research was done thoroughly and efficiently.
I was particularly impressed by her ability to produce a well-written,
well-structured and well-reasoned legal memoranda, which required only
very minor revision before it was served upon opposing counsel. Ms. N.
was also an extremely valuable resource during our week-long federal jury
trial, providing some keen insights into the way in which testimony might
be perceived, and assisting in innumerable other ways.

Overall, it was a pleasure to work with Ms. N. I can recommend her to you
as a clerk with confidence that she would do an excellent job and make
the most of the experience.

Sincerely yours,

Employer's Name
Assistant Attorney General

CLERKSHIP RECOMMENDATION LETTER FROM EMPLOYER

Date

Court
Court's Address

Re: Student's Name
Dear Justices:

I am writing to recommend
Student's Name, who worked as a legal intern with me for three months during
the summer of 2000.

I sit as a judge on the Massachusetts
Superior Court, which is a trial court with general civil and criminal
jurisdiction. During her internship with me, S. worked primarily on dispositive
motions in civil cases, but also did short research on evidentiary or other
trial-related issues and a few bench memos. S. has very good research skills
and she writes with a clear style. I was particularly impressed by the
thoughtful way she analyzed the legal issues presented in the cases; on
a number of occasions she pointed out legal problems affecting one side's
argument that the parties to the case had failed to recognize. Also impressive
was S.'s commitment to researching a legal question until she arrived at
a legally viable and intellectually satisfying answer.

S. had just completed her
first year of law school when she worked with me, and therefore she came
with little legal experience. However, she was extremely eager to learn
all she could about each case on which we worked. She asked excellent questions,
followed the parties' arguments, and I found her to be a quick study. She
was very capable at working independently, seeking direction at appropriate
points in her work. Her interest in and commitment to her work are noteworthy.

I recommend S. highly. She
is bright, hard working and capable young woman with very good legal skills,
albeit by necessity not fully developed yet. On a personal level, I found
her to be a pleasure to work with for the entire length of her internship
because of her eagerness, her sense of humor and her spirit. If I can provide
any further information to you, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely yours,

Judge's Name

CLERKSHIP RECOMMENDATION LETTER FROM EMPLOYER

Date

The Honorable (Judge's Name)
U.S. Magistrate Jude
U.S. District Court
(Address)

Dear Judge (Judge's Last Name):

SN (Student's Name) was one
of my law clerks in the Summer 2001. We were so impressed with S and his
work that we have asked him to work for us part-time during the school
year.

I had the opportunity to
work directly with S on a number of complex and diverse legal matters.
S brought a high level of intelligence, practicability and integrity to
each of the matters assigned to him. I can unequivocally state that S's
research and analytical ability are exceptional. S's writing skills are
equally impressive, his memoranda were vibrantly clear and a pleasure to
read. Moreover, S is extremely detail oriented, his memoranda accurately
and consistently identified and incised the relevant case law and statutory
mandates in each legal issue he confronted.

Personally, he is gregarious
and mature and we did not hesitate to expose him to our clients. I would
also note that S's work ethic is extraordinary, S regularly took work home
and stayed late to complete assignments. In my opinion, S will make an
outstanding law clerk.

It is without hesitation
that I recommend him for a clerkship serving in your chambers. Please feel
free to contact me directly should you want to discuss S's qualifications
or performance in further detail.

Very truly yours,

Attorney's Name

FELLOWSHIP RECOMMENDATION FROM PROFESSOR

Date

The National Association for Public Interest Law
Address

Fellowship Recommendation for S.N. (Student's Name)

Dear Selection Committee:

I
am writing this letter in enthusiastic support of S. N.'s candidacy for
a NAPIL Fellowship. I have known Mr. N. as a law student starting when
he was a student in my Contracts course during his first year of law school.
On the basis of my own contacts with Mr. N. and a review of his law school
file, I am confident that Mr. N. has both the intellectual and the personal
skills that will make him an exceptional Fellow, and a lawyer whom Northeastern
will be proud to claim as an alumnus.

As
Mr. N.’s academic record, and the evaluations from his co-op experiences,
indicate, he is one of our strongest students. His performance in my Contracts
class placed him among my top students, both in terms of his examination
and as reflected in his participation in the class. Mr. N. both writes
and speaks with unusual clarity and apparent ease. His ability to grasp
and manipulate legal doctrine is very strong. I was particularly impressed
with his ability to delve into the analytic details of legal argumentation
while preserving a strong sense of the experiential context from which
the legal issues arise. This is a talent that most students only develop
gradually, often not until after they leave law school. But for Mr. N.
it seems to come quite naturally, and it evidently has served him well
in his various practice experiences, both before and during law school.
He clearly has the tools, both analytic and synthetic, to become an exceptionally
skilled lawyer.

Mr.
N. also impresses me as an unusually conscientious, committed, and mature
person. He comes to Northeastern with a long and impressive record of achievement
in civic and voluntary activities, and he has made full use of the numerous
opportunities our program affords to extend and develop his commitment
to social change and the representation of marginalized people. A NAPIL
Fellowship will be a natural continuation of the path he has been blazing
since he was in college, and one that he will undoubtedly carry forward
with distinction and accomplishment.

In
short, I recommend Mr. N. to you enthusiastically and without reservation.
If I can be of any further assistance in your review of his candidacy,
please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Professor's Name

FELLOWSHIP RECOMMENDATION FROM PROFESSOR

Date

Name & Address

Reference for S.N. (Student's Name)

Dear Ms./Mr./Dr.:

I am the Clinical Director for Northeastern Law School’s Domestic Violence
Institute. In this capacity, I supervised S.N. when she enrolled in our
intensive Domestic Violence Clinic course, and worked with her again on
particular welfare issues when she subsequently enrolled in the Poverty
Law Clinic. I enthusiastically support her application for the fellowship
position.

S.N. was a wonderful student in our Domestic Violence Clinic. She began
the on-site court work with enthusiasm but considerable trepidation, not
knowing how she would handle the challenges of battered women’s advocacy.
She was, however, an excellent advocate. Her commitment and common sense
understanding of her clients was evident from her first visit to Court,
and her interviewing, counseling and advocacy skills developed quickly.
By mid-quarter, she was one of this Clinic’s most effective and productive
students.

In both this Clinic and her subsequent Poverty Law work, S.N. consistently
displayed not only great empathy and commitment to assist women whose lives
have been far harder than her own, but also great respect and admiration
for their accomplishments. She was, and remains, dedicated to a career
advocating for vulnerable women and their children, and I am confident
she will do so in both a respectful and empowering manner.

On a more personal level, S.N. is a pleasure to teach and supervise.
She is skilled, intelligent, highly motivated, and very independent in
accomplishing legal tasks. She works exceedingly well with her supervisors
and her peers. Although neither naive nor inexperienced, she is both optimistic
and energetic in approaching the many challenges of this work. We have
enjoyed her repeated enrollment and participation in Clinic work, and will
greatly miss her contributions. If you have any particular questions or
concerns, please do not hesitate to call me.

As the clinic director, I had the opportunity to work directly and indirectly
with S. during her years at Northeastern. She worked under my direct supervision
representing welfare mothers in the Poverty Law and Practice clinic. Indirectly,
I know of her work in Prisoner’s Rights and the Certiorari Clinics. The
sum of these experiences mean that S. took advantage of a broad variety
of what we offer by way of experiential learning in the clinical setting.
She also participated in four criminal externships as part of her education.

What we saw then in promise, you can now see in reality. While she worked
with me in the summer of 1996, I knew S. as a disciplined and dedicated
advocate. She was a quick study who mastered the intricacies of the welfare
regime and was able to explain it with enough clarity so that her clients
could make informed and reasoned choices. S. worked hard and learned from
her varied experiences. Two of her cases stand out in my mind. The first
was a client only a law professor could invent. Client's Name had applied
for SSI, been denied AFDC because of ownership of a car, was about to have
her mortgage foreclosed and had a disability discrimination case pending
against the state. S. was only responsible for the SSI and AFDC problems
but the others had a bearing on the resolution of her benefits claims.
S. proved herself able to keep all these cases straight in her head and
to arrive at a comprehensive strategy based on her research and analysis.
The other case involved a woman terminated because her child was not making
reasonable progress toward graduation. This "learnfare" rule was new and
untested at the time. S. worked with a group of advocates in and out of
the office to arrive first at a research strategy and then at an action
plan that resulted in the case being resolved and laid the groundwork for
an eventual change in the policy.

To me, S.’s performance in both cases was exemplary. She did all that
was asked of her and more. She displayed hard work and creativity aimed
at getting the client a semblance of justice. She was respectful and forceful
as appropriate. It was a pleasure to get the results of her factual and
library research, which arrived, in concise and readable prose. As an oral
advocate, her preparation bore fruit. She conducted direct and cross-examinations
from the confidence that comes of knowing a case inside out. I can’t imagine
that she has lost any of those qualities, which made her such a delight
to have in the clinics. She was a team player when she was here and while
her role would be different at Georgetown, I would bet that she would be
a team player when she joins you.

Northeastern has had the honor of sending a number of students to the
Georgetown graduate clinical fellowships. I have been supervising clinical
students for twenty years at Duke, Harvard and Northeastern and I would
rank S. as strongly as those I know whom you have previously selected.
She was a standout here and I would suspect you would find her to be the
same there.

I am writing to support S. N. (Students Name) application for a 200__
Skadden Fellowship. As her supervising attorney at South Brooklyn Legal
Services this past summer, I can attest to S.’s outstanding research and
writing skills as well as her passion for legal services work. Even as
an intern, she was a tremendous asset to this office and made a real difference
in the lives of the clients on whose cases she worked. As a staff attorney
on a Skadden Fellowship, I know she would contribute more of the same top
quality work I saw from her this summer and would help numerous Brooklyn
residents facing the threat of displacement.

At the end of the summer, I submitted a lengthy evaluation of S.’s work
as a summer intern to Northeastern University School of Law; I understand
that my evaluation is in S.’s transcript and will be part of this application.
While I therefore do not want to repeat those evaluation comments here,
I do want to emphasize a few points.

First, in my five years as an attorney in the housing law unit at this
office, I can honestly say that I have never had a better experience working
with any summer intern. With every assignment I gave her, I could trust
that S. would approach the work conscientiously and diligently, and would
return with an exceptionally well-researched and well-written work product.
In fact, towards the end of the summer, I left S. almost entirely on her
own to handle a case involving wrongful termination of a client’s Section
8 subsidy. S. met with the client to identify the problem and collect relevant
documents from her, identified the claims involved, and drafted the federal
court complaint and the brief in support of an order to show cause. Her
understanding of the issues was so accurate, and her writing so clear,
that I barely edited the papers before filing them in court.

Second, it is not only S.’s research and writing skills that are superb.
I observed her interactions with clients in settings ranging from court
appearances to office appointments to tenant association meetings. Without
exception, S. was compassionate, patient and professional. Likewise, she
was articulate and confident in her interactions with opposing counsel
in court.

Finally, I have met very few law students—and indeed, few young attorneys—who
are as mature as S. is in their commitment to legal representation for
the poor. She truly believes in the importance of the work and knows how
to translate that belief into high quality advocacy. The attorneys at South
Brooklyn Legal Services, as well as our clients, benefited enormously from
S.’s dedication this past summer. We will be thrilled if she returns to
this office as a Skadden Fellow.

My direct line is ( ) ____ -_____. Please feel free to call if I can
be of any further assistance.

Yours truly,

Attorney's Name
Senior Staff Attorney
Housing Law Unit

FELLOWSHIP RECOMMENDATION FROM EMPLOYER

Date

Dr. M.H.
Rhodes Scholarship Committee of Selection
Address

Re: S. N. (Student's Name)

Dear Dr. H:

I write in support of S.N.’s candidacy for a Rhodes scholarship.

I supervised S. while she was a legal intern this past summer at the Massachusetts
Department of Revenue, Child Support Enforcement Division (DOR). During
her internship, S. performed legal research and writing on a variety of
topics concerning the establishment and enforcement of child support obligations.

S. was one of the best interns that we have had at DOR. She took on very
complex subject matter, and provided thorough, incisive and well-written
analyses for our attorney staff on a consistent basis. She put a great
deal of energy into her work, handling numerous assignments simultaneously,
and completing them in a timely manner.

One assignment that S. completed under my supervision stands out in particular.
In addition to analyzing the legal issues that had been presented to her,
she identified several practical issues that had not previously been raised.
In going this further step, S. demonstrated impressive analytical ability
and initiative.

S. exhibited many personal qualities that will serve her well in life,
such as persistence, openness to constructive feedback, and respect for
other individuals in the workplace. In addition, K. has a sincere commitment
to working on behalf of disadvantaged groups.

I hope that this information is useful to you in your evaluation of S.’s
candidacy. Please do not hesitate to contact me if I may be of further
assistance.

Sincerely,

Supervisor's Name
Supervisors Title

FELLOWSHIP RECOMMENDATION FROM EMPLOYER

Date

The National Association for Public Interest Law (NAPIL)
Address

RE: Student Name's Application for a NAPIL Equal Justice Fellowship

Dear NAPIL:

The Multicultural Center enthusiastically recommends Student's Name as
an exceptional candidate for a 2002 NAPIL Equal Justice Fellowship. S possesses
not only a rare passion but also a proven commitment to provide access
to justice for Northwest Arkansas' Latino community. These qualities will
make her an invaluable asset to our clients.

I came to know S. in the Spring of 2001, while she was working with Southern
Migrant Legal Services ("SMLS"). Early in her internship, she reached out
to the Multicultural Center to educate our staff about workers rights,
and related services available through SMLS. I came to learn that we were
one of the many local service providers to the Latino community with which
S. established a working relationship. She networked with the Spanish-language
media, local attorneys working on a MALDEF racial profiling case, faith-based
service providers, local immigration attorneys and other leading Hispanic
advocates. She had the practical skills and personal warmth to enter a
new community and immediately create links with knowledge and bilingual
ability will immensely benefit our Amigas program.

I glimpsed S.'s rare personal commitment to helping the under-represented
in March 2001, when our Center referred a non-English speaking undocumented
Mexican man who had been injured on a construction job to her for assistance.
Mary interviewed him and undertook to help him obtain workers' compensation.
She accompanied him to the hospital and subsequent medical appointments
to act as a bilingual interpreter; she communicated with his employer on
his behalf; she called the workers' compensation insurance agent on his
behalf; and eventually, she secured private legal representation for him
by a local attorney specializing in workers' compensation. Only later did
I learn that S. did not perform this assistance as part of her internship
duties at SMLS. SMLS was barred by its funding sources from assisting undocumented
workers. Nevertheless, S. took this case on as a personal project, over
and above what her required internship obligations were.

I feel very confident in saying that S. would be a wise choice for this
fellowship. She has been instrumental in shaping the nature of the fellowship
project, and her participation in the Amigas project would make a significant
difference to the lives of may of our clients. Please do not hesitate to
contact me if you need further informatio